DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Status
Claims 1-9, 11, 13, 17-18, 20, 28 and 56 are pending, and claims 10, 12, 14-16, 19, 2427, 29 and 31-55 are canceled.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/22/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-8, 13, 17-18, 28, 30 and 56 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chae et al. US20200053647A1 (listed in applicant submitted IDS and listed as D1 in PCT search report), hereinafter Chae in view of Wilhelmsson et al. WO2020192949A1 (with international pub. date 2020-10-01), hereinafter Wilhelmsson.
Regarding claim 1, Chae teaches a method performed by a relay User Equipment, UE, for a cellular communications system, the method comprising:
(Chae: Summary, Fig. 13, para. [0145] UE device 20 may include a reception device 21, a transmission device 22, a processor 23, a memory 24, and a plurality of antennas 25. para. [0152] a module, a procedure, a function, etc. Software code may be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor)
transmitting a synchronization signal for time and frequency synchronization of one or more remote UEs; and
(Chae: para. [0015 &0114 & 0091] When a synchronization signal is transmitted in a first subframe of a discovery resource pool for transmitting the discovery signal, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of a last symbol of the first subframe)
transmitting a low-power wake-up signal, LPWUS, (Chae: para. [0106] wake-up signal means a signal for enabling a UE to determine whether there is an incoming signal and/or the type thereof by driving a simple passive circuit or a low-power circuit. Since the wake-up signal requires very low power similarly to when the UE operates in sleep mode (i.e., when the UE does not decode any signals), the power consumption thereof is much lower than that required when a control signal is decoded)
to a particular remote UE that is in an idle (sleep) mode, (Chae: para. [0015 &0114 & 0106] When a synchronization signal is transmitted in a first subframe of a discovery resource pool for transmitting the discovery signal, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of a last symbol of the first subframe)
wherein the LPWUS has one or more characteristics that enable a power cost for detecting the LPWUS at the particular remote UE to be less than a power cost for detecting a signal
(Chae: para. [0106] wake-up signal means a signal for enabling a UE to determine whether there is an incoming signal and/or the type thereof by driving a simple passive circuit or a low-power circuit. Since the wake-up signal requires very low power similarly to when the UE operates in sleep mode (i.e., when the UE does not decode any signals), the power consumption thereof is much lower than that required when a control signal is decoded)
detecting a wake-up signal, WUS, from a base station at the particular remote UE.
(Chae: para. [01082] eNB transmits the wake-up signal in order to wake up the P-UE)
It is noted that Chae does not explicitly disclose: wherein the LPWUS has one or more characteristics that enable a power cost for detecting the LPWUS at the particular remote UE to be less than a power cost for detecting a signal.
However, Wilhelmsson from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein the LPWUS has one or more characteristics that enable a power cost for detecting the LPWUS at the particular remote UE to be less than a power cost for detecting a signal (Wilhelmsson: page 7 line 20 to page 8 line 3 and Fig. 1 For this and other reasons, the WUR 12A may have a lower requirement on analog and radio frequency, RF, circuitry, and thereby the power consumption for the WUR may be significantly lower than for the one or more other transmitters/receiver 12B) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Wilhelmsson in the method of Chae. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for improve the radio node power consumption and spectrum efficiency, and thereby provide benefits such as extended battery lifetime (Wilhelmsson: para. [0178]).
Regarding claim 2, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 wherein the LPWUS has a bandwidth that is less than that of a WUS from a base station. (Chae: para. [0118] If the bandwidth (BW) of a transmitting UE is significantly different from that of a receiving UE (for example, if the relay UE is a normal UE and the remote UE is a low-cost UE, the BW of the remote UE where the remote UE performs access may be smaller than that of the relay UE), the transmitting and receiving UEs may have different wake-up signal bands, sequences, CSs/OCCs, and/or comb indices)
Regarding claim 4, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the LPWUS comprises transmitting the LPWUS (Chae: para. [0114-0121 & 0106] when a synchronization signal is transmitted in the first subframe of the discovery resource pool where the discovery signal is transmitted, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of the last symbol of the first subframe) in at least one Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, OFDM, symbol. (Chae: para. [0047] A slot includes a plurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain and a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain)
Regarding claim 5, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 wherein the synchronization signal and the LPWUS are transmitted in a same subframe. (Chae: para. [0015] When a synchronization signal is transmitted in a first subframe of a discovery resource pool for transmitting the discovery signal, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of a last symbol of the first subframe. Para. [0114] The first subframe of the discovery resource pool may be a synchronization signal transmission subframe, or the synchronization signal for transmitting and receiving the discovery signal may be transmitted in a synchronization subframe closest to the discovery resource pool. In this case, the wake-up signal may be transmitted in a partial region of the last symbol of the synchronization signal transmission subframe)
Regarding claim 6, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the synchronization signal comprises transmitting two or more repetitions of the synchronization signal. (Chae: para. [0092] D2DSSs may include a primary D2DSS (PD2DSS) or a primary sidelink synchronization signal (PSSS) and a secondary D2DSS (SD2DSS) or a secondary sidelink synchronization signal (SSSS). The PD2DSS may be configured to have a similar/modified/repeated structure of a Zadoff-chu sequence of a predetermined length or a primary synchronization signal (PSS))
Regarding claim 7, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 6 wherein transmitting the two or more repetitions of the synchronization signal comprises transmitting at least one of the two or more repetitions (Chae: para. [0092] D2DSSs may include a primary D2DSS (PD2DSS) or a primary sidelink synchronization signal (PSSS) and a secondary D2DSS (SD2DSS) or a secondary sidelink synchronization signal (SSSS). The PD2DSS may be configured to have a similar/modified/repeated structure of a Zadoff-chu sequence of a predetermined length or a primary synchronization signal (PSS)) of the synchronization signal prior to transmitting the LPWUS. (Chae: para. [0114] when a synchronization signal is transmitted in the first subframe of the discovery resource pool where the discovery signal is transmitted, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of the last symbol of the first subframe)
Regarding claim 8, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 7 wherein the two or more repetitions of the synchronization signal (Chae: para. [0092] D2DSSs may include a primary D2DSS (PD2DSS) or a primary sidelink synchronization signal (PSSS) and a secondary D2DSS (SD2DSS) or a secondary sidelink synchronization signal (SSSS). The PD2DSS may be configured to have a similar/modified/repeated structure of a Zadoff-chu sequence of a predetermined length or a primary synchronization signal (PSS))and the LPWUS are transmitted in a same subframe (Chae: para. [0114-0120] when a synchronization signal is transmitted in the first subframe of the discovery resource pool where the discovery signal is transmitted, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of the last symbol of the first subframe).
Regarding claim 13, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the synchronization signal comprises transmitting a single instance of the synchronization signal. (Chae: para. [0114] when a synchronization signal is transmitted in the first subframe of the discovery resource pool where the discovery signal is transmitted, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of the last symbol of the first subframe).
Regarding claim 17, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 wherein a bandwidth of the synchronization signal is the same as a bandwidth of the LPWUS. (Chae: para. [0114-0120 & 0015-0018] when a synchronization signal is transmitted in the first subframe of the discovery resource pool where the discovery signal is transmitted, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of the last symbol of the first subframe)
Regarding claim 18, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the synchronization signal comprises transmitting an instance of the synchronization signal in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, OFDM, symbol that immediately precedes an OFDM symbol in which the LPWUS is transmitted. (Chae: para. [0114-0120 & 0015-0018] when a synchronization signal is transmitted in the first subframe of the discovery resource pool where the discovery signal is transmitted, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of the last symbol of the first subframe)
Regarding claim 28, Chae teaches a relay User Equipment, UE, for a cellular communications system, the relay UE comprising: one or more transmitters; and processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters, the processing circuitry configured to cause the relay UE to: (Chae: Summary, Fig. 13, para. [0145] UE device 20 may include a reception device 21, a transmission device 22, a processor 23, a memory 24, and a plurality of antennas 25. para. [0152] a module, a procedure, a function, etc. Software code may be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor) and Chae and Wilhelmsson teach all the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claim 1, and therefore apparatus claim 28 is rejected using the same rationales.
Regarding claim 30, Chae teaches a method performed by a remote User Equipment, UE, for a cellular communications system, the method comprising: (Chae: Summary, Fig. 13, para. [0145] UE device 20 may include a reception device 21, a transmission device 22, a processor 23, a memory 24, and a plurality of antennas 25. para. [0152] a module, a procedure, a function, etc. Software code may be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor)
while in an idle state: (Chae: para. [0117] remote UE operates in the sleep mode)
receiving, from a relay UE, a synchronization signal for time and frequency synchronization of the remote UE; performing time and frequency synchronization based on the synchronization signal; and (Chae: para. [0015 &0114 & 0091] When a synchronization signal is transmitted in a first subframe of a discovery resource pool for transmitting the discovery signal, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of a last symbol of the first subframe)
detecting a low-power wake-up signal, LPWUS, (Chae: para. [0106] wake-up signal means a signal for enabling a UE to determine whether there is an incoming signal and/or the type thereof by driving a simple passive circuit or a low-power circuit. Since the wake-up signal requires very low power similarly to when the UE operates in sleep mode (i.e., when the UE does not decode any signals), the power consumption thereof is much lower than that required when a control signal is decoded)
from the relay UE, (Chae: para. [0015 &0114 & 0106] When a synchronization signal is transmitted in a first subframe of a discovery resource pool for transmitting the discovery signal, the wake-up signal may be transmitted through a part of a last symbol of the first subframe)
wherein the LPWUS has one or more characteristics that enable a power cost for detecting the LPWUS at the remote UE to be less than a power cost for detecting a signal, (Chae: para. [0106] wake-up signal means a signal for enabling a UE to determine whether there is an incoming signal and/or the type thereof by driving a simple passive circuit or a low-power circuit. Since the wake-up signal requires very low power similarly to when the UE operates in sleep mode (i.e., when the UE does not decode any signals), the power consumption thereof is much lower than that required when a control signal is decoded)
detecting a wake-up signal, WUS, from a base station at the remote UE. (Chae: para. [01082] eNB transmits the wake-up signal in order to wake up the P-UE)
It is noted that Chae does not explicitly disclose: wherein the LPWUS has one or more characteristics that enable a power cost for detecting the LPWUS at the particular remote UE to be less than a power cost for detecting a signal.
However, Wilhelmsson from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein the LPWUS has one or more characteristics that enable a power cost for detecting the LPWUS at the particular remote UE to be less than a power cost for detecting a signal (Wilhelmsson: page 7 line 20 to page 8 line 3 and Fig. 1 For this and other reasons, the WUR 12A may have a lower requirement on analog and radio frequency, RF, circuitry, and thereby the power consumption for the WUR may be significantly lower than for the one or more other transmitters/receiver 12B) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Wilhelmsson in the method of Chae. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for improve the radio node power consumption and spectrum efficiency, and thereby provide benefits such as extended battery lifetime (Wilhelmsson: para. [0178]).
Regarding claim 56, Chae teaches a remote User Equipment, UE, for a cellular communications system, the remote UE comprising: one or more receivers; and processing circuitry associated with the one or more receivers, the processing circuitry configured to cause the remote UE to (Chae: Summary, Fig. 13, para. [0145] UE device 20 may include a reception device 21, a transmission device 22, a processor 23, a memory 24, and a plurality of antennas 25. para. [0152] a module, a procedure, a function, etc. Software code may be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor) and Chae and Wilhelmsson teach all the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claim 30, and therefore apparatus claim 56 is rejected using the same rationales.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chae and Wilhelmsson as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Park et al. US 20210168720 A1, hereinafter Park.
Regarding claim 3, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 and Chae and Wilhelmsson do not explicitly teach: wherein the LPWUS has a bandwidth that is less than 180 kilohertz, kHz.
However, Park from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein the LPWUS has a bandwidth that is less than 180 kilohertz, kHz. (Park: para. [0051] The narrow frequency band is used for transmitting the OOK modulated wake-up radio signal, and the bandwidth of the OOK modulated signal may be determined to be 100 kHz or less in consideration of the amount and frequency of the data) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Park in the method of Chae and Wilhelmsson. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for reduce the power consumption of the IoT devices drastically and improve their device viability by using the wake-up radio signal that is OOK modulated in the narrow frequency band between the ISM band and the guard band in the ISM band (Park: para. [0019]).
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chae and Wilhelmsson as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Elshafie et al. US 20240380438 A1, hereinaftere Elshafie.
Regarding claim 23, Chae and Wilhelmsson teach the method of claim 1 Chae and Wilhelmsson do not explicitly teach: wherein the LPWUS is encoded with an identity, ID, of the particular remote UE.
However, Elshafie from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein the LPWUS is encoded with an identity, ID, of the particular remote UE.
(Elshafie: para. [0094] WUS may further include an identifier (ID) of a UE to be served by the RIS. When the WUS includes an ID of a UE to be served by the RIS, the RIS may determine a previously used beam for serving the UE associated with the ID in the WUS and determine a beam to use for serving the UE based, at least in part, on the previously used beam) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Elshafie in the method of Chae and Wilhelmsson. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for provide RIS wake up signal (WUS) configurations used to improve power efficiency and reduce transmission interference in RIS-aided communications (Elshafie: para. [0068]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please also see PTO-892.
Rusek et al. US 20230082719 A1 in para. [0164] detection of the WUS 402 may be based on very low power receivers for non-coherent demodulation, such as, for example, direct detection (DD) of On-Off Keying (OOK) modulated WUSs 402.
Chu et al. US 10764855 B1 teaches client station 134-1 also includes a LP-WUR 150 coupled to the wireless network interface device 142 and to at least one of the antennas 146. The LP-WUR 150 is configured to use very low power (e.g., less than 100 microwatts or another suitable amount of power). The LP-WUR 150 is configured to use significantly less power (e.g., less than 20%, less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 2%, less than 1%, etc.) than the wireless network interface device 142 while the wireless network interface device 142.
Cao et al. US 20240276458 A1 in para. [0073] teaches communication between the base station 402 and the target UE 404a, the base station 402 may transmit communication to one or more UEs 404b and 404c near the target UE 404a for relaying the communication to the target UE 404a over a sidelink. For a target UE 404a to receive a reservation reserving a set of time-domain resources and a set of frequency domain resources around a WUS for a low-power UE, the target UE 404a may receive the reservation from the UE 404a/404b or from the base station 402.
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/WUTCHUNG CHU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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